Wetsuits are tight-fitting water-permeable suits worn by divers, surfers, board sailors, and swimmers in order to retain body heat. Modern wetsuits typically consist of flexible, heat-insulative material such as elastomer foam, one example being Neoprene foam. Full body wetsuits exhibit full-length arm and leg portions as well as the trunk portion. A spring suit is one which has short sleeves and shortened leg portions, and is typically used by surfers who desire greater freedom of movement. A bib top, similar to a tank top garment, may also be worn to increase the freedom of movement. One such bib top suit is seen in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 202,976. Of course, as the amount of wetsuit material is decreased, the amount of heat insulation decreases as well.
Contemporary full body and spring suits have a vertical zipper extending up the back which the wearer can unzip to form a large opening to step into and out of the suit. The zippers are typically made of noncorrosive material, such as plastic. The zippers extending up and down the back, however, greatly restrict freedom of movement, especially in forward bending. Other wetsuits provide a zipper for entry into the suit horizontally disposed across the chest. Although this zipper position does not restrict freedom of movement in forward bending, there is some restriction of upper body movement, and particularly lateral arm movement. Furthermore, the design of the zipper across the front of the suit detracts from the aesthetic appearance of the suit, and interferes with continuous logos or designs on the front of the suit.
One attempt at making a zipperless wetsuit is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,364, issued to Lent. In this patent, the wetsuit includes shoulder portions which can be laterally separated to expose a large aperture in the upper portion of the suit for the wearer to enter. The wearer then stretches a band from a left shoulder portion over the right side of the neck, and stretches the entire right shoulder portion over the left arm and over the head. The right shoulder portion covers the left shoulder portion, and leaves a large frontal panel 20 unconnected to the remainder of the suit at edge 20a. The unconnected edge 20a creates a relatively large gap in the material across the front of the chest which may allow water underneath the suit. Although a resilient neck portion 14a is provided to prevent water from entering the suit, the large unconnected edge 20a can allow water underneath the neck portion into the area surrounding free edge 21a and upper edge 21b of the left shoulder section. Furthermore, although the wetsuit ostensibly increases freedom of movement by the elimination of a zipper, the amount of material and awkward coupling of the lateral left and right shoulder portions across the wearer's upper body tends to restrain movement of one arm in relation to the other. Furthermore, the wetsuit is relatively awkward to put on.
A simpler design of a zipperless swimming suit is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,976. This suit is intended to be used by children when learning how to swim, and includes a trunk made of a double layer of Lycra.RTM. with a V-neck, allowing entry to the suit. The arms and legs of the suit are made of a single layer of lycra to facilitate freedom of movement. In the background of the invention, the patent teaches against adapting the design to wetsuits which are made from thicker, foam rubber material which can inhibit movement. The V-shaped opening at the top of the suit would not be practical with conventional wetsuits, which must have a relatively tight-fitting neck to prevent water ingress.
There is thus a need for a simpler, zipperless wetsuit which is both watertight and provides maximum freedom of movement.